Benvenuto Cellini (Italian Benvenuto Cellini; November 3, 1500, Florence - February 13, 1571, Florence) - an outstanding Italian sculptor, jeweler, painter, warrior and musician of the Renaissance.
Benvenuto Cellini is one of the brightest representatives of the Renaissance of the Quattrocento era. The versatility of the skills that the amazing master possessed amazes: he was equally masterful in the technique of engraving, embossing, bas-relief, miniature and monumental sculpture, music, jewelry, was an excellent painter, a brave artillery warrior, a master of hand-to-hand combat, and was an excellent dagger. Writing talent allowed Benvenuto to leave behind a unique document of the era, where he frankly outlined his own autobiography, not hiding either the several murders he had committed, for which he was convicted and sentenced to several years in prison, or his tough temper, which made him the notorious bloodthirsty, scandalous and arrogant rude. Among his customers were the richest nobility in Europe, among whom were the Duke of Tuscany Cosimo Medici, the French monarch Francis the First, and several popes.
Life is like an adventure. Wandering
The whole life of Benvenuto Cellini was connected with Florence by dramatic and sometimes tragic threads of fate. He was born into the family of Giovanni Cellini, an artisan. Even in childhood, the future master was so impressed by the playing of the flute and the beautiful voice of the ruler of Florence that he was invited to the palace as a court musician. His father dreamed of a brilliant musical career for his son, but at the age of 15, the wayward teenager gave up music and became a student of the famous jewelry master Antonio di Sandro. His career was hampered by the expulsion of Benvenuto from Florence due to a desperate sword fight, during which the fighter showed extreme cruelty. So the young hooligan ended up in Siena, where he continued his jewelry making and received his first orders as a recognized master. Returning to Florence, Benvenuto again finds himself in an unpleasant story, this time he is tried for an insult. He flees from the retribution of Themis to Rome, where in 1521 Clement VII of the Medici family rules. After looking around, the fugitive gets a job as a chaser in Santi's workshop, where he masters the art of chasing rich utensils - exquisite dishes, candlesticks, miniature sculptures. From the chaser's workshop, Fortune's favorite unexpectedly gets into the Vatican court orchestra, thanks to the playing of the flute, which moved the Pope to the depths of his soul, and a little later the doors of the richest houses of the Roman nobility open before the young flutist.
In 1527 Rome was subjected to a barbaric raid by Charles V. Benvenuto became one of the defenders of the Castle of St. Angela, where the Pope was under siege. After the defeat of the Roman troops, Benvenuto returned to Florence, where the plague that raged shortly before his return took the lives of his father and sister. Having paid off from prison, the restless Benvenuto settles scores with the murderer of his younger brother (1529) and again flees to Rome, fleeing another trial. The grateful Pope of Rome becomes his patron, and soon the master receives the post of minter, chief and master of the mint, and a little later becomes the mace-bearer of the pontiff. Cared for by his dad, Cellini, thanks to arrogance and scandalousness, acquires many envious people and enemies. Some of them are killed by the dagger of the frantic Benvenuto, but wild antics get away with him thanks to the patronage of Clement. Trouble falls on the head of the papal favorite after the death of Clement, who covered up his crimes. Alessandro Farnese, who took the name of Paul III, ascends to the papal throne. Among the confidants of the newly made pontiff there are many enemies of Cellini, who decided that the time had come to get even with the Florentine upstart. The clouds are gathering over Benvenuto's head. Fleeing from reprisals, he flees to Florence, under the auspices of the influential nobleman Alessandro Mavra. When the passions subsided, the talent of the goldsmith Benvenuto was remembered in Rome on the eve of the arrival of Emperor Charles V. Benvenuto receives a prestigious order: a gold cross as a gift to the emperor. However, there was no limit to the cunning of the master's Roman enemies. Not only did they pay him three times less than what was promised, but they also remembered past sins. Cellini tries to leave for France, enlisting the support of Francis I, but he pulls out with formalities. While waiting for the invitation of the monarch, Cellini ends up in prison on a false denunciation concocted by ill-wishers. He leaves the dungeon thanks to the intervention of Cardinal d'Este, who came to Rome on business, and who bothered about the departure of the Roman prisoner to Paris, to Francis I, as a court jeweler.
In 1540, Cellini arrived in Paris, where he very soon fell into the millstones of grueling litigation, thanks to the conflicting unbearable nature. The sculptor's craft saves the talented master from despair and prosecution: France, competing with Italy, highly appreciated his sculptures, because at that time Cellini was one of the leading Parisian sculptors. In 1545, the Florentine ruler, Duke Cosimo I of the Medici family, remembers Cellini. Cellini's fame as a prestigious sculptor was fueled by French admirers, and Cosimo commissioned the master to create a bronze sculpture of Perseus with the head of a Gorgon. The huge sculpture should adorn the main square of the city and immortalize the victory of the Medici family over rivals, the Republicans. The discovery of the monumental sculpture of Perseus (1554) becomes a brilliant triumph for the former exile. Crowds of enthusiastic citizens gather in the main square of Florence, and the name of a fierce but gifted countryman on the lips of all Florentines evokes incredible interest and curiosity, arousing Cellini's ambition.
The famous Florentine married at 60 years old, a young Pietra, who served as a housekeeper in his house. The marriage brings some peace and harmony to Cellini's wandering life. The five children born to him by Pietra require care and attention. In addition, the aging Cellini has six more nephews who were orphaned after the death of his younger sister. The master does not skimp on expenses and wants the children not to know the needs and to grow up in full prosperity. In recent years, the master devoted himself to jewelry, since it was the most profitable, the benefit of customers in the rich, spoiled luxury of Florence was overwhelmed. Disagreements and a sharp cooling between the Duke Cosimo and Benvenuto, although they darkened the life of the famous master, did not significantly affect the well-being of the family. At the table the jeweler Benvenuto found a relatively prosperous, calm old age. In his spare time, he wrote his memoirs. In 1571 Death came for the old sinner. Shortly before his departure, Benvenuto created one of the most stunning sculptures, the statue of Christ, thus bringing his repentance and humble gift to the altar of the merciful Lord. At the funeral of the famous contemporary, crowds of Florentines gathered, who buried Benvenuto Cellini with great honors, as an honorary citizen who, thanks to his labor, won the great glory of Florence.
Life after life. Heritage
Jewelry was a huge legacy of Benvenutto Cellini. But, unfortunately, not so many works of the master of goldsmith have survived. Some objects settled and disappeared in private closed collections, many were melted down during the great upheavals. In addition to coins, seals, medals, the most famous jewelery masterpiece by Cellini has survived - "Saliera", a salt shaker in the form of a tabletop sculpture depicting a man and a woman lying in gold. The salt shaker was made by order of the French monarch Francis I. Today, at an international auction, its cost, according to experts, is at least $ 60 million.
Sculptures by Benvenutto Cellini were more fortunate. In addition to the most famous monumental sculpture "Perseus", several of his major works have survived, as well as a number of sculptural miniatures, in which art critics see the foreshadowing and source of mannerism associated with the later aesthetics of the 18th century. Among the masterpieces of this kind, collectors and experts see a special artistic value in the works of bronze - "Minerva", "Jupiter", "Fear", "Apollo and Hyacinth", "Narcissus", "Mercury". The relief "Nymph of Fontainebleau", which is kept in the Louvre, is also considered a precious piece of art. The highest craftsmanship is also marked by the statue of Christ (located in the Monastery Museum El Escorial, Madrid), created by the master from white and black marble in the last years of his life.
Benvenutto Cellini in his declining years wrote and left to posterity, in addition to lyrical sonnets, two invaluable literary works: a treatise on the casting of sculptures and a treatise on jewelry. The autobiographical story "The Life of Benvenuto Cellini", a real literary monument - a treatise about his own life, immortalizing his life adventures, has become a real bestseller. In the book, the master without concealment, with his characteristic boasting, describes himself, his contemporaries and the events of an ambiguous, restless and cruel era in which he happened to live. This document has become one of the brightest and most authoritative sources on the history of Italy in the 16th century.
The personality of Benvenutto Cellini, with all its vices and passions, has been a source of controversy and burning interest for several centuries. The manuscript "Life" was lost after the death of the author, was found many years later in one of the antique shops and transferred to the library for safekeeping. The first outburst of interest in the personality of the author of the "Biography" occurred in France, back in the 18th century, when the first translation of this book into French was made, immediately after the first edition in Naples in 1728. The book was translated into German by Johann Goethe. The enormous impact of Cellini's autobiography on their worldview was noted by such genius writers as Schiller, Stendhal, Alexander Dumas.
The Florentine master became one of the characters in A. Dumas' novel "Ascanio". The personality of the master aroused great interest among opera composers of the 19th century. The first opera, Benvenuto Cellini, was written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in collaboration with librettists de Vailly and Barbier (1823). In 1877, the master's autograph served as a plot for an opera by the Italian composer Emilio Bozzano, the author of the libretto was the playwright and librettist Giuseppe Perosio. In the 20th century, the personality of Benvenuto Cellini also attracts filmmakers, he becomes the hero of such films as "The Magnificent Adventurer" (1963), "Cellini: A Crime Life" (1990), and also appears as a minor comic character in the film "Gold" (1992).
